Monday, December 13, 2010

Eternal questions for a spotless mind

Hi there, my long-lost blog readers! How are you? I'm fine. You're looking well.

Ok, let's be honest... I don't know if anyone will actually read this. If roles were reversed I would have taken this blog off my Google reader long ago. But this story is too odd not to share, especially since it's a follow up to this post from last year. Go ahead, read it. Then come back here.

To recap: this guy I went to camp with randomly contacted me on Match last year, not realizing we had known each other 15 years prior. I reminded him who I was, and he eventually did remember, but it wasn't immediate on his part and it was an ego-bruiser on mine. We went out for drinks, and I didn't feel a connection, and texted him so the following week, saying that I'd still like to be friends. His text back replied, "That's okay, I have enough friends. LOL." Bitter, party of one? That's fine. Point taken.

So can you guess whom I might have received a Facebook friend request from tonight? That's right - the guy who said he had enough friends. All I ever really wanted was to be Facebook friends with him, maybe get together a few times a year with other friends, stay in contact since there are so few camp friends I actually am still in touch with. So I accepted his request, wondering if I'd ever hear from him directly, or if curiosity just got the better of him and he'd silently stalk my photos for months to come. Very quickly, I had my answer - a message from him in my inbox. I think I gasped audibly.

Will he apologize, I wondered. Sheepishly make a joke? I tentatively opened the message, which, to my surprise, read: "Congrats on making it to LA as well! How long have you been out here?" Which apparently means... he totally forgot. So, can you help reconcile this in my brain?

A year ago, I had to remind him that we had been friends in camp. Understandable, I guess, since boys don't always remember friendships the way girls do, and that had been 15 years - and many hairstyles - prior. But now, after seeing him less than a year ago, he forgets THAT DATE, but remembers me from 15 years ago. The me I had to remind him about.

And now, how do I answer this email? "Hi! I moved here in 2005, just like I told you last year when we went on that date that you apparently don't remember. How are you?" I feel bad bringing up the date, because I'm guessing it's going to mean reminding him of what happened afterward, but I don't know how I can honestly answer him without mentioning that, um, hey, I saw you a year ago and we discussed this at length. How can he NOT remember?

The truth is, I always felt bad about the way I handled things. It all took place over text, which I wasn't used to at the time, and I could have phrased things better. But the fact that he was so bitter and tantrum-y about it also makes me kind of embarrassed for him. I don't want to have to remind him that that's how he reacted. Can I maybe rewrite history here? Tell a different story about our date and hope that his amnesia doesn't one day clear up?

The whole thing kind of weirds me out and makes me wonder if something is wrong with him. Part of the reason I didn't like him last year was that he seemed a little sad, or disconnected, or like that something was a little bit off. His childish text response kind of reinforced to me that he might not be emotionally secure. I'm glad he's not pining over my rejection in any way, but the fact that he doesn't even remember it seems a bit, I don't know, just WEIRD. Even if he doesn't remember what happened after the date, how does he not remember going on it? It's like that entire night, and our entire conversation never happened. Which wouldn't even be that odd if we hadn't had a history together, but we do, and he clearly remembers that now, so... I don't know, I am at a total loss.

Any thoughts? Suggestions for how to handle? Ideas for how I might rewrite our date story with a happier ending?

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